Edward Nettleship

Who was Edward Nettleship?

Edward Nettleship was an English ophthalmologist.

He was a native of Kettering. After finishing his medical studies, Nettleship became an assistant to Jonathan Hutchinson at the London Hospital, and a coworker with Warren Tay at the Moorfields Eye Hospital. Later, he spent nearly twenty years at St. Thomas Hospital in London, where he was mentor to Charles Howard Usher. At St. Thomas, he was an ophthalmic surgeon and lecturer. The Nettleship Medal of the Ophthalmological Society was created in his honor.

Nettleship is remembered for his work with hereditary eye disorders. He made important contributions in the research of ocular albinism, retinitis pigmentosa and hereditary night blindness. Prior to specializing in ophthalmology, Nettleship studied veterinary medicine and dermatology, and in 1869 provided an early description of urticaria pigmentosa.